GRAM PARSONS

(1946 – 1973)
MUSIC ::: COUNTRY ::: GRAM ::: BOSTON BABYLON :::

While The Beatles and The Stones were heavily mining American Blues and R&B records, the son of Waycross, Georgia was busy obsessing over American country pioneers like Charlie and Ira Louvin. The original Cosmic Cowboy went off to join the 27 club while Henley and Frey rode his coattails into the Tequila Sunrise.

The International Submarine Band

Before The Byrds, before The Flying Burrito Brothers, and before Cosmic American Music had a name, there was the International Submarine Band. Formed in Los Angeles in 1966 after Gram Parsons left Harvard, the group became the first true laboratory for his musical vision. While most bands of the era chose between folk, rock or country, Parsons refused to recognize those boundaries. Inspired by Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, the Kingston Trio, the Louvin Brothers, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and George Jones, he began assembling those seemingly incompatible influences into a single musical language.

The International Submarine Band arrived years before country-rock became fashionable. Their landmark album, Safe at Home, blended Bakersfield twang, Appalachian harmonies, folk storytelling and rock & roll attitude with a confidence that was virtually unheard of in 1968. Although the record sold poorly and was overshadowed when Gram joined The Byrds shortly before its release, its influence proved enormous. The album stands today as one of the earliest blueprints for what would later become known as Americana, demonstrating that America's musical traditions had never truly been separate genres—they were different branches of the same family tree.

Ironically, the International Submarine Band was less an ending than a beginning. It was through this group that Gram Parsons attracted the attention of Chris Hillman, leading directly to Sweetheart of the Rodeo, The Flying Burrito Brothers, GP and Grievous Angel. Nearly every chapter that followed can be traced back to this overlooked band. The International Submarine Band wasn't simply Gram Parsons' first great group—it was the moment when a young musician stopped chasing his influences and began creating a musical tradition that others would spend the next half-century exploring.

Flying Burrito Brothers